NCJ Number
80068
Date Published
1979
Length
63 pages
Annotation
Prepared primarily for newly appointed judges in Federal district courts, this manual describes sentencing options in terms of their effect on the offender's treatment by the Bureau of Prisons and the Parole Commission.
Abstract
An overview of the relationship between the sentencing judge and the United States Parole Commission emphasizes that the Parole Commission determines an offender's actual release data within limits established by the judge. Contrary to popular opinion, the manual notes that it is not the Parole Board's policy to release offenders on their parole eligibility dates if their prison conduct has been satisfactory or to base a release data on rehabilitative progress. Furthermore, the Youth Corrections Act and the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act have a limited impact on sentencing. The manual first outlines basic sentencing options for adult offenders, including imprisonment, residence in a halfway house, fines, and probation. Statutes governing 'good time' awarded by the Bureau of Prisons which can reduce sentences are explained, as are laws and criteria used to determine the date of release from incarceration for adult sentences of a year and a day or more. Also covered are the effects of parole revocation on adult sentences of a year and a day or more, determining release dates for sentences of a year or less, and Bureau of Prison regulations regarding assignment to an institution. Disparities between the statutory language of the Youth Corrections Act and actual application of its provisions by correctional authorities are detailed, with particular attention to sentencing options, indeterminate sentences, conditions of incarceration, determining release dates, parole, and probation. A similar discussion considers the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act. Authorities that the sentencing judge can use to have an offender observed and studied are identified. Situations where the court can influence an offender's experience after sentencing by communicating with the Bureau of Prisons or the Parole Commission are described. The appendixes contain a Parole Commission statement on the use of 'offense behavior' and an excerpt from a report of the Congressional Committee of Conference on the Parole Commission Act. Significant changes in this manual since the January 1980 revision are listed.